Sail fabric



July 26, 1949.

A. R. PIERCE, JR

SAIL FABRIC Filed June 6, 1946 1N V EN TOR.

ATTORNEYS Patented July 26,1949

'ma STATES @lirica y .SAIL FABRIC Albertiit. Pierca r., Southartmuhim. eppncaueasuae e, 194e, serial No. 674,840

Thisinvention relatesI-to ,a `sail `such `as is used upon yachts or.`ships and more` particularly tothe fabrication `of `the `material which is incorporated in sucha sail.

It is usual in the Vconstruction of sailfabric to provide a line adjacent each of the selvage edges of a wovenmaterial to determinevtheonere lap of one..web,of material ,with the Anext `web in joining ,theseitogether for the formationofa sail. As the distance between lselvagesris ora substantial extent ordertostrengthen `the sail it is also usual to so-call bight seam the web at a point intermediate lthe selvages. The goods are usually perfectly plain between the selvages so that the big-ht `steaming is a procednre consuming :a considerableeamount Igef` timed-nas much as. measurementsmust..be `made :continuallyiin `order to provideithe Fbightiseam in isnch a position that after it is formeditscenterlwill be uniformly spaced between the selvage edges.

One of the objects vofsths. invention is to provide a means by which the bight seam may be placed in the cloth muchfmore.. quickly.

, Another object jof this :invention Ais Ato provide lines `in the fabric which lwillguide the forman tioncf` a bight seam` .sosthat Wh'envinade it .will be ,inwtlae` cor1ect;r.pos`ition@with relation `:to the selvage. I I

Moreispecicallv anrcbjectof this. ,invention is to locateawarp threads; ofcontrasting colornwith relation-to the fabric of the isail "cloth .sozthat these threads Awill stand out `and `may serve as a guide for the` foldingafof".the .cloth:to' formgithe bight seam.

with these and other objects in View, nia-.in`

vention consists .of certainenovel features of construction as will be more fully described and particularly pointedout inthe appended claims.

. In I the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a fragmentalportion of a web of fabric which has had a bight seam sewed therein v`andwhich has also been secured-to other Webs of fabric, which areiragmentallyshown, at the selvage edges thereof; i Fig.w2 isa-top plan viewtofa -fragmental portion of a web of fabric showing the guiding lines Woven therein;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the rst fold in the formation of the bight seam;

Fig. 4 is a similar View illustrating the more complete formation of the folds for the bight seam;

Fig. 5 is an edge view of a dierent arrange-` ment of bight seaming; and

Fig. 6 is a plan view similar to Fig. 2 but illusfi Claims. (Cl. 139-383) traurig astrinof stocknifarkedior bisht seamine` .such ,as shown.in'jfiiig.;5. i

Inproceeiiingaviththis invention, I `mark the web of ,;f;`abricwhichnisjdnbe usegdforsail cloth i by `iriserisirie .warp threads at (the desired `positions withlrefersnce tothe widthbf the iabri S0 i as i0 provide the` guidelines fdesired- `These threads maybe of a color Whichwill contrast with the usual `color of the threads such for instance as the prorisionyofiaredl marking thread in a generally white fabric.

With referencetdthenrawings, in the ,form of the inventionshownfingligs. )1 .and 2,` the-worpen fabricisdesignatedIll :and I .have provided adjacent itheselvagecl a `tlfnzeal .|21 While adjacent the other selvage I3 Lhaveprovded .a marking thread I4. These threads VI2 and I4 will be spaced equally frnmrfifheselvage edges II and I3. The additional marking threads I5 and I6 are. also,.pwvidedsntermediatethe .marking :lines I2 ansia. Animveeinar nter ofthefabric; is.designated#Miranda .l earnarerit that the thm-rade14:5n n-d. remet-.fs mmetrical with ref- @rence :to;the;,:ceriterf1fine :l l. adlhe spacing, .however, is such that if the fabric is;folded along theV line I6 and this fold.li ne.is caused to register with the line lifas shown-Fig. 4, the center of the bight seam thus formed will be in the center .of :thedabriiaeasashewn iinfFig. l. n'Stitching ing willL thanioccurlvito'ihold the fabric-1in this position. i ii'fterftheweb orfpieceisibight ysearned, it is sewed to other similar formed webs which are designated such as llrand .2l by overlapping the edges so that the salvage` of one will be positioned at the. guide line either I2. or I t ofthe other. `j`

In the form of theinvention'shown in llgf and 6, the woven fabricas designatedjiiand I have. providedadjacent;*tl;ie f^selvage` .3l V f a gm ark ing thread'., whilegadiacsnt the. `other selvas@ 33 :I `have. prrrvidedga marklinexthread '314. N These threads '32 v'and 311'` Ywill be .equally spaced from the Salvage "eieesil and "5in thisr .example I provide "for the forming. pfl-ftwonlcight seams "intermediategthe -zgselvagesjjby placing additional pairs 0f Irrarki n g,'threads jand Bindzill and 38 'between thefthreads 32 and 34. The location of the additional marking threads is such that if the fabric is folded along the line 36 and this fold line is caused to register with the line 35 similar to the folding above described and the fabric is also folded along the line 38 and this fold line is caused to register with the line 3l in the same manner, then the center of the bight seams 39 and 40 thus formed will be spaced from the center of the margins 4| and 42 formed between each selvage 3l and 33 and their margin marking lines 32 and 34 the same distance they are from each other so as to equally divide the bight seaming.

This same layout may also be applied where there are other numbers of bight seams intermediate the selvages and so I lay out the intermediate marking lines according to a common formula for all cases dependent only upon knowing the spacing of the selvage marking lines and number of bight seams to be desired and place the additional intermediate pairs of marking lines in such location.

Thus the spacing of the first reference line I5 in Fig. 2 is calculated from the edge I3 of the fabric I according to the formulaV 'w-a(2n-I 1) 'n+1 where w is the total width'of the fabric, a, is theV width of the space between the selvage I3 and the. margin line I4, and u is the number of bight seams. The second reference line as I6 is aln ways 2a from the first line which in the case of the single bight seam Vcompletes the layout, although it will be also found that the line I2 will also be the following distance from the first reference line l i L w-a(2n-I1) Y 'nfl-1 +2.()

Asirmilar procedure is` adopted for the location of the additional markingy lines in Fig. 6. Thus the rst line 35 of the pair is calculated from the edge 33 of the fabric 30 according to the same formula o andthe second reference lineV 331s 2a from the first line 35. The second set or pair of lines in this case where two bight seams are to be provided are similarly located. Thusthe line 31 is located from the first reference line 35 according to the formula Y n+1 .I-ga andthe companion'line 38 is spaced 2a from this line 31. It may further be noted that the margin line 32 is spaced from the line 3,1 also a distance This procedure may be used for any number of bight seams to be provided.-

I claim:

1. Piece goods for the formation of a yacht sail comprising a length of woven fabric having a marking line inwardly from each selvage a distance a defining the width of overlap in sewing two widths of fabric together and additional marking lines for bight seaming provided in accordance with the number of bight seams to be used, there being at least one pair of lines, which pair of lines are spaced a distance (2a) :apart 4 with the spacing between a first selvage edge and the nearest line of the pair a distance represented by the formula w-a(2n+ 1) n+1 where w is the width ofthe fabric, a is the selvage mark width from the edge, and n is the number of bight seams in the width of cloth.

2. Piece goods for a yacht sail as set forth in 'claim 1 wherein said'additional lines comprise contrasting warp threads woven into said fabric.

3. Piece goods for a yacht sail as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said lines is formed by a contrasting warp thread woven inte said fabric.

4. Piece goods for a yacht sail as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said lines is formed by a contrasting colored warp thread woven into said fabric. Y

5. Piece goods for the formation of a yacht sail comprising a length of woven fabric having a marking line inwardly from each selvage a distance a, defining the width of overlap in sewing two widths of fabric together and additional marking lines for bight seaming, said lines being present in pairs in accordance with the numdistance (2a) apart which is twice that of said marking lines inwardly from each selvage edge of the fabric and the first line of the first of said pair of lines being spaced fromrone selvage edge a distance represented by the formulal w -a (2n -il)V n -1- 1 and the line of the next and each succeeding pair of lines which corresponds to the first of said pair of lines being spaced in increments from said first of said pair of lines a Vdistance represented by the formula where w is the Width of the fabric, a is the sel- Vage mark width from the edge, and n is the number of bight seams in the width of cloth.

6. Piece goods for a yacht sail as set forth in claim rwherein said additional lines comprise contrasting warp threads woven into said fabric.

'7. Piece goods for a yacht sail a's set forth in claim 5 wherein each of said lines is formed by a contrasting warp thread woven into said fabric.

8. Piece goods for a yacht sail as set forth in claim 5 wherein each of said lines is formed'by a contrasting colored warp thread woven into said fabric. ALBERT R. PIERCE, JR.

VVREFERENCES CITD The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

p UNITED VsrrA'rgs PATENTS Number Brown et al.V Dec. 25, 1945 

